J.J Cress Kiln and general pottery questions

[Cat Lady]

Hi, I was just given a old C-14 J.J. cress kiln but I can’t find a manual and I don’t know how to use it. I have done ceramics but never had to deal with a kiln before. It turns in and starts getting hot but it seems there is 2 switches that have 2 different heat settings?. How long do I turn it on for with my ceramics in it before they are done? Do I then open the lid and let it cool off before taking my pottery out? Once I glaze my items do they go on the same setting and for how long? 
I know how to create an item but that’s all I ever learned to do. Any advice, books on start to finish, which types of glazes, which type of clay…anything would be helpful. I want to create dishes, pet food dishes etc. when I was in school they had clay and glazes were there and I just made stuff but I know there are all types of stuff for different things you want to do but I don’t know the first thing. . Thank you

[neilestrick]

Hi @Cat Lady, Can you post a picture of the controls on your kiln? There are a lot of different systems out there. Also post a pic of the serial plate on your kiln. Does it have a Kiln Sitter shutoff device?

Are you currently enrolled in a pottery class? I highly recommend taking one if they're willing to teach you how to use a kiln.

Are you familiar with how cones work? Read HERE if not. You need to make sure your clay and glazes mature at the same cone. If your kiln is the same as the one I'm seeing on the Cress web site, it's only rated to 2000F, which means you can only do low fire work in it. That means either a white earthenware clay or a terra cotta clay, and you'll use low fire glazes (cone 04-06).

HERE is a manual for your kiln.

[Cat Lady]

Thanks for responding, sorry it took so long to answer. 
May kiln is very basic as you can see in the picture, I don’t believe the link you put for the manual is for mine. It has 3 switches and that is all.  The serial number (which I’m not sure if it’s correct since it looks like it was scratched on) says 14c.
what we cite are you looking at, as far as I know they don’t sell mine anymore. I am not in a pottery class I live to far to do that, when I took a class they didn’t teach how to use the kiln. Thanks for the info on cones, although I’m very confused by that. 
 

how long do you put the clay in there and how long do you put the pottery in there once it’s been glazed? 
thanks

[neilestrick]

5 hours ago, Cat Lady said:

Thanks for responding, sorry it took so long to answer. 
May kiln is very basic as you can see in the picture, I don’t believe the link you put for the manual is for mine. It has 3 switches and that is all.  The serial number (which I’m not sure if it’s correct since it looks like it was scratched on) says 14c.
what we cite are you looking at, as far as I know they don’t sell mine anymore. I am not in a pottery class I live to far to do that, when I took a class they didn’t teach how to use the kiln. Thanks for the info on cones, although I’m very confused by that. 

EDIT: Does your kiln match THIS?

The first thing you need to do is figure out what the max temp of the kiln is, because that will determine what you can use it for. I'd send these pics and whatever info you can read on the serial plate to Cress and ask them how hot it will get. If it's only rate to cone 6 then it won't be a good kiln for cone 5/6 work because the elements will wear out very quickly and you'd be better off working at low fire temps.

Can you read how many amps the kiln pulls? Code requires that the kiln be on a breaker that is rated 25% greater than the draw of the kiln, but not more than 50% greater. So if it's a 24 amp kiln it should be on a 30 amp breaker, if it's a 35 amp kiln it should be on a 50 amp breaker, etc.

Cones measure heatwork, which is temperature over time. The faster the kiln is climbing, the hotter you have to go to achieve the heatwork because it takes time for the heat to penetrate the work and have an effect. Holding temp also increases heatwork. It's like cooking a roast in the oven- you can cook it for an hour at 350F, or 4 hours at 275F; either way the inside of the roast gets cooked. Cones bend at a specific amount of heatwork, and you use clay and glazes that are made to mature at the same cone.

Since your kiln doesn't have a Kiln Sitter shutoff device, you'll have to put cones in the kiln, and watch for them to bend by looking through the peephole on the front of the kiln. It's really not an ideal setup for a first kiln, but you're going to learn a lot. The other option is to invest in a wall mounted digital controller. They're not cheap but it will simplify the process a lot.

[neilestrick]

@Cat Lady If that link is your kiln, then it's only rated for low fire work, and even then it's a really under-powered kiln. If you're firing to cone 05 it'll probably work fine, but it may be a very long firing. You'll have to fire it up and see how it goes. I'd invest in a cheap digital pyrometer so you can see how fast it's climbing, and see how long it takes to get to 1900F.